Paul Haggis supports Vanity Fair story on Tom Cruise girlfriend audition

Oscar-winning director and former Scientologist Paul Haggis supports Vanity Fair's story that actress Nazanin Boniadi was auditioned by the Church of Scientology to be Tom Cruise's real-life girlfriend.

In an email to ShowBiz411.com, Haggis says he has known Boniadi for three years.

"Naz was embarrassed by her unwitting involvement in this incident and never wanted it to come out, so I kept silent," Haggis wrote in the email published on the website Sunday. "I was deeply disturbed by how the highest ranking members of a church could so easily justify using one of their members; how they so callously punished her and then so effectively silenced her when it was done."

The Church of Scientology told ABC News in a statement today that "The entire story is hogwash. There was no project, secret or otherwise, ever conducted by the Church to find a bride (audition or otherwise) for any member."

The church also says, "No church members were 'used,' nor were they punished, nor silenced."

As for Haggis, Karin Pouw, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology International, said he is an "apostate." She told ABC News today that Haggis is "attempting to grab headlines and falsely slander his former religion."

In the October issue of Vanity Fair, special correspondent Maureen Orth writes that actresses were told they were auditioning for a training film, and asked, "What do you think of Tom Cruise?"

Orth, who interviewed "several sources," says the entire arrangement was headed by Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology chief David Miscavige.

Marc Headley, a former Scientologist, told Vanity Fair that he saw those audition tapes when he was the head of the church's in-house production studio.

"We assumed that this was going to be for "Mission Impossible 3," and then I later found out that it was just an audition process to try and find a girlfriend for Tom Cruise," Headley told ABC News in July.

The Church of Scientology says Headley is a disgruntled former member of the church who they accused of embezzlement. Headley denied the allegations and no charges were filed.

Vanity Fair reports that "in a month-long preparation," Boniadi was "told to lose her braces, her red highlights and her boyfriend." The Iranian-born, London-raised actress even reportedly signed a confidentiality agreement and was told if she "messed up" she would be declared an enemy of Scientology, the magazine wrote.

ABC News reached out to Boniadi, but she has no statement or comments at this time.

Boniadi and Cruise first met in November 2004, according to the article. Boniadi, the magazine claims, "first sensed that this was possibly going to be an arranged marriage" and although they spent that first night together "they did not have sex."

Vanity Fair reported that Cruise told Boniadi, "I've never felt this way before," and eventually his affection became "overwhelming" for the actress. Cruise reportedly complained to Boniadi, "I get more love from an extra than from you," according to Vanity Fair.

The article claims that Boniadi moved into Cruise's home and was given a credit card issued in the name of his production company as her only source of money.

The relationship ended in January 2005, the magazine reported, just three months before Cruise appeared in public with Katie Holmes. The article claims that Cruise wanted "someone with her own power, like Nicole Kidman."

Boniadi, the magazine writes, was then reportedly sent to a Scientology center where she broke down and revealed her relationship with Cruise to a friend, which supposedly violated her confidentially agreement. As punishment, Vanity Fair says her chores included "scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush, cleaning tiles with acid and digging ditches in the middle of the night."

The Church of Scientology, however, denied this to the magazine, saying, "The Church does not punish people, especially in that way."

Following the reported failed relationship, Boniadi, 32, went on to appear in the soap opera "General Hospital" and had a role in the 2010 blockbuster film, "Iron Man." Boniadi is now a spokesperson for Amnesty International and no longer involved with Scientology, according to the magazine.

Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise earlier this year after six years of marriage. The couple has a 6-year-old daughter named Suri. Holmes did not become a Scientologist until she started dating Cruise. A rep for Holmes told ABC News that she has no comment on the story and it was done without Holmes' participation even though her face is on the cover of the issue.

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Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/paul-haggis-supports-vanity-fair-story-tom-cruise-072429791--abc-news-topstories.html

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Glenn Kessler's Shameless Lie (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Hong Kong Government disregards same-sex domestic abuse

The Domestic Violence Ordinance (Cap 189), ?The Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance? has taken effect from January 1, 2010, covering same-sex partners under the territory?s domestic violence law.

In 2009, the Women Coalition of Hong Kong conducted a study into the conditions of domestic violence and found that 49.9% of respondents had recently suffered physical assault, bodily harm and/or sexually violent treatment at the hands of their LGBT partner, yet only 1.6% of respondents would seek assistance from social welfare organizations.

Even though over a year has passed since the amendment of the Domestic Violence Ordinance, today?s Hong Kong Government has not provided any resources geared towards the lesbian community, such as increasing awareness of domestic violence. It is reported that up to now, statistics for the number of homosexual women seeking help are still extremely low.

Educational film by WCHK on the problem of domestic violence in the lesbian community:

Support Us

This project aims to raise awareness of domestic violence and to increase the knowledge on domestic violence among homosexual and bisexual women. Even with the anti-violence ordinance, lesbian victims could not obtain help if they remain silent. Through our advocacy program, we hope victims of lesbian domestic violence will reach out for help, hence combating domestic violence.

Outreach programs for the lesbian community are critical for us to spread information regarding same-sex domestic violence. Please support our advocacy work!

About the Woman Coalition of HKSAR:

The Woman Coalition of HKSAR (WCHK) is a non-profit-making and non-governmental organization founded on 1st July, 2003. The Women Coalition of Hong Kong represents women as a sexual minority, aiming to fight for sexual minority rights and eliminate civil, political, economical, social and cultural discrimination and oppression based on sexuality and gender identity.

The Women Coalition of Hong Kong promotes sexual minority rights through legislative advocacy, human rights documentation and research, public education, oral history and culture building. We provide support services for homosexuals, bisexuals, pansexuals, transgenders and other female sexual minorities. We believe that a female?s gender identity is based on her subjective perception, but not her biological sex.

Published by: LGBTsupports

Published on: September 4, 2012

Source: http://www.lgbtsupports.org/hong-kong-government-disregards-same-sex-domestic-abuse/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hong-kong-government-disregards-same-sex-domestic-abuse

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The eyes have it: Men do see things differently to women

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The way that the visual centers of men and women's brains works is different, finds new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Biology of Sex Differences. Men have greater sensitivity to fine detail and rapidly moving stimuli, but women are better at discriminating between colors.

In the brain there are high concentrations of male sex hormone (androgen) receptors throughout cerebral cortex, especially in the visual cortex which is responsible for processing images. Androgens are also responsible for controlling the development of neurons in the visual cortex during embryogenesis, meaning that males have 25% more of these neurons than females.

Researchers from Brooklyn and Hunter Colleges of the City University of New York compared the vision of men and women aged over 16 from both college and high school, including students and staff. All volunteers were required to have normal color vision and 20/20 sight (or 20/20 when corrected by glasses or contact lenses).

When the volunteers were required to describe colors shown to them across the visual spectrum it became obvious that the color vision of men was shifted, and that they required a slightly longer wavelength to experience the same hue as the women. The males also had a broader range in the center of the spectrum where they were less able to discriminate between colors.

An image of light and dark bars was used to measure contrast-sensitivity functions (CSF) of vision; the bars were either horizontal or vertical and volunteers had to choose which one they saw. In each image, when the light and dark bars were alternated the image appeared to flicker.

By varying how rapidly the bars alternated or how close together they were, the team found that at moderate rates of image change, observers lost sensitivity for close together bars, and gained sensitivity when the bars were farther apart. However when the image change was faster both sexes were less able to resolve the images over all bar widths. Overall the men were better able to resolve more rapidly changing images that were closer together than the women.

Prof Israel Abramov, who led this study commented, "As with other senses, such as hearing and the olfactory system, there are marked sex differences in vision between men and women. The elements of vision we measured are determined by inputs from specific sets of thalamic neurons into the primary visual cortex. We suggest that, since these neurons are guided by the cortex during embryogenesis, that testosterone plays a major role, somehow leading to different connectivity between males and females. The evolutionary driving force between these differences is less clear."

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123184/The_eyes_have_it__Men_do_see_things_differently_to_women

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Video: Huntsman on Colbert talks about GOP future (Americablog)

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Roleplayers Wanted for 'The Tides of War'

Roleplayers needed! http://www.roleplaygateway.com/roleplay/the-tides-of-war/

At first there was only the Abyss. Swirling chaos streamed through a black nothing. Then the Elder Shaytaan appeared. These creatures floated through chaos, enjoying the absolute randomness of it all. Some of the Shaytaan sought for more, they wished to make something of it all.
These Elder Malankh as they called themselves brought the chaos together and began to force it into shapes and structures. The Malankh began to set boundaries and limits for their creations. The universe and its laws had been created. As more and more laws were set, their creations flourished and combined creating the world as it is now known. The most privileged and capable of all creations were the humans. They began to enforce their own dominion on the created order while still obeying the laws of the Malankh.

Most of the Shaytaan began to hate the Malankh and their creations, the humans, for mistreating the chaos like this, others tried to keep the peace between the two. This small group of peace wanting individuals came to be known as the Lykos. These creatures developed Spirit Magic and convinced the rest of the Shaytaan to remove themselves as far into the Abyss as they could and away from the created world.

Many eons have passed since the Shaytaan left for the great reaches of the Abyss. Humans have full dominion over the land, using metal tools and machines to make their cities powerful and to make a greater name for themselves in the universe. The Malankh have created a better world, a higher creation, that they might have full leisure and peace while their law rules over the created cosmos. No one really knows where the Lykos are, though some humans have heard of legends of great wolf spirits that stop great wars and calamities upon the world before they even happen.

This great time of relative universal peace is slowly coming to an end. More and more humans are noticing great rifts in the created order as chaos is slowly reclaiming that which once belonged to it. The Shaytaan are returning.

Become one of the chaotic and powerful Shaytaan, a creator/king Malankh, a witty and adaptable human, or a spirit controlling Lykos. Shape the universe. Retake what was once yours, uphold the law and stop any and all foes, become more than your creators, or fight for peace. The decision is up to you.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/apabFdAUMBA/viewtopic.php

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Adelaide Screenwriter: Book Review: The Starter Screenplay

Adam Levenberg is a former Hollywood executive (Intuition Productions, One Race Films), and that is the entire point of his book. There?s no advice on formatting or screenplay structure or character development. The executive mindset?something most of us instinctively mistrust?is obvious throughout. Adam spent years as a Hollywood executive, and he?s still in his early thirties. That shows in his book. It is impatient, direct, and blunt. The tone is that of a youthful executive unwinding over a couple of cold ones with a group of peers.
________________________________________________________________________

There are three things you need to understand from the outset. The first is that Hollywood executives divide writers into two classes: those who have agents, managers and/or lawyers, and those who are unrepresented.

Get used to seeing references to the ?unrepresented writer? because that's the person for whom this book was written.

The second thing is the concept of the ?Starter Screenplay.?

• A Starter Screenplay is a script that gives you a shot at breaking into Hollywood.

And what does a starter screenplay look like?

• There is one hero.
• Events take place in present-day reality, preferably in the United States, usually in a neighborhood or contained location.
• The hero is provided a love interest, a ticking clock, a clear-cut goal, and depending on the genre, either life or death or family and career are on the line.
• (It tells a story) that executives want to make and audiences want to see, featuring characters we'd like to be.

The third thing is this: a "movie" is that type of film which consistently makes money for the studio. Sure, there are other types of films?art house, foreign, doco, experimental, and so on?but to be a "movie," a film has to be of a style that has a track record of positive return on investment.

Executives have been studying the patterns of success and failure for a century. This book is a distillation of all that due diligence. It doesn?t tell The Truth, but it presents a version of the executive mindset that will probably decide the future of your next screenplay, should it get that high up in the food chain.

You probably won?t like what you?re about to read, but you?d be a fool to not want to know how they think.

• Over 99% of unrepresented writers do not know how to write a movie.
• Unrepresented writers ... often think any narrative they imagine or construct is a movie because they are writing it in screenplay format.

And that's why they remain unrepresented. The stuff they've been writing doesn't qualify as a "movie" in the eyes of Hollywood executives.
________________________________________________________________________

You need to read the whole book to get the full picture, but here are a few quotes from The Starter Screenplay to give you a taste of the POV of a Hollywood executive.

• Movies are about heroes trapped in extreme situations. They are forced to do outrageous things and overcome impossible odds to achieve a particular goal.
• Successful movies exploit an audience's desires.
• The clich? "write what you know" inspires countless writers to depict the frustrations of breaking into Hollywood. This is awful advice for screenwriters.
• Stallone ... took a visually dull job (writing behind a desk) and set it inside a boxing ring with people beating the shit out of each other.
• Kiddie movies by unrepresented writers are usually awful. It takes a highly sophisticated expert to entertain kids and adults at the same time.
• If you need more than 115 finalized pages to tell a story, you have not written a movie. Chances are you still have a lot to learn about what a movie actually is. Period.
• Nearly every spec that sells takes place in current day reality.
• Your hero should also be in trouble, behind schedule, and under the gun due to a ticking clock.
• Until you sell a spec, do not juggle the beginning, middle, or end. Keep your movie out of the editing blender and write a linear narrative.
• Heroes are dragged kicking and screaming into their missions.
• Your hero must act. It's never a choice.
• If you've written a thriller where life and death aren't on the line, you have not written a thriller.
• In capers, which are usually heist narratives, freedom is at stake and incarceration is the price of failure.
• Audiences tend to avoid exotic settings. Remember, 50% of Americans have never left the continental United States.
• There is no such thing as a totally new concept.
• Any high school movie needs to feature heroes who are intelligent, speak like adults, and are in the 11th or 12th grade.
• If you can't find two interesting premises inspired by the content of a single random newspaper, you're not thinking hard enough.
• Give your hero a romance, even if they?re already hitched!
• A romance is the best way to prove the hero?s value to the audience. It also makes even the toughest heroes vulnerable and accessible.
• And never forget, your hero must be awesome and memorable. Awesome and memorable. Awesome and memorable. Awesome and memorable...
• Your hero should be 25-40 years old.
• Action movies often show the hero failing at something during the opening sequence. What situation do you think he's placed in during the climax?
• A final sacrifice followed by reward is what makes audiences cry.
• The best villains represent a true threat to our hero.
• We know the hero is going to win, so the only way you?ll convince the audience to suspend disbelief is to make it impossible for us to imagine how the hero can prevail.
• Your hero must achieve their victory by using a specific piece of wisdom, lesson, or action they?ve learned during the events of the movie.
• Screenplays sell if they have a strong concept, a memorable hero, competent execution, and multiple Ideas of Value.
• Ideas of Value are original touches that bring life to your characters, excitement to your action, and creativity to dialogue and situations.
• I'm always amazed when I ask aspiring screenwriters to identify the most memorable moments of their screenplay and they go silent. No wonder they don't get requests?what else are you supposed to list in a one page query letter?
• Before writing a new script, you should read at least ten screenplays of the same genre that have sold in the past year or two.
• Screenwriting is about finding the simplest way to get the point across and a professional can accomplish in one sentence what an amateur may spend pages establishing.
• The best short films hit every beat of a feature.

________________________________________________________________________

Some Don?ts for Starter Screenplays:

• Don?t adapt a book?
• Avoid Biopics?
• Don?t mock Hollywood?
• Avoid parodies (write a broad comedy with a solid storyline, instead)?
• Don?t mention 9/11?
• No Native American stories?
• Don?t invent a superhero (normal guys with impressive strength/stamina/survival skills are okay)?
• No musicals (write a Broadway show instead)?
• Skip the family Holocaust story?
• No charity/good cause stories?
• No epics?
• No drug addiction/child abuse/domestic violence?
• No sequels?

________________________________________________________________________

Ten Tips for Short Filmmakers:

• The best genres to work in are horror, comedy, and musicals.
• Keep it short. Two to five minutes is best, ten minutes maximum.
• Show off! Limit the amount of shots and effects, so every single one can be perfect.
• Stay away from character dramas!
• Create impact! Make the audience jump out of their seats or laugh out loud. Do something shocking.
• Don?t act in your own short if your primary goal is to be a writer/director.
• Break out of the studio rules! Serve whatever audience you want to.
• Keep it simple and film a contained sequence with an immediate problem that evokes intense emotion, such as humiliation, terror, or excitement.
• You are filming an amazing short, not an advertisement for a feature.
• What makes YOU special as a filmmaker? Make sure this is on display. Play it up. This could be your last shot.

________________________________________________________________________

This review of The Starter Screenplay barely touches the surface of the book, but it should give you a fair idea of what to expect. Highly recommended for any screenwriter who is pursuing the Sale-to-Hollywood route.

Source: http://adelaidescreenwriter.blogspot.com/2012/09/book-review-starter-screenplay.html

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